The Lonely (The Twilight Zone)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| "The Lonely" | |||||||
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| The Twilight Zone episode | |||||||
 Jack Warden and Jean Marsh in "The Lonely". |
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| Episode no. | Season 1 Episode 7 |
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| Written by | Rod Serling | ||||||
| Directed by | Jack Smight | ||||||
| Production no. | 173-3602 | ||||||
| Original airdate | November 13, 1959 | ||||||
| Guest stars | |||||||
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Jack Warden (Corry) |
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| List of Twilight Zone episodes | |||||||
"The Lonely" is an episode of the American television anthology series The Twilight Zone.
Contents |
[edit] Opening narration
| “ | Witness if you will a dungeon, made out of mountains, salt flats and sand that stretch to infinity. The dungeon has an inmate: James A. Corry. And this is his residence: a metal shack. An old touring car that squats in the sun and goes nowhere — for there is nowhere to go. For the record let it be known that James A. Corry is a convicted criminal placed in solitary confinement. Confinement in this case stretches as far as the eye can see, because this particular dungeon is on an asteroid nine million miles from the Earth. Now witness if you will a man's mind and body shriveling in the sun, a man dying of loneliness. | ” |
[edit] Synopsis
In 2046, an inmate sentenced to solitary confinement on the desert planet Ceres is visited by a spacecraft that regularly brings him supplies and news from the Earth. Captain Allenby has been trying to make Corry's stay humanely tolerable by bringing him things to take his mind off the loneliness. On this trip, however, Allenby tells Corry not to open a certain crate that has just been delivered until after the transport crew leaves. Upon opening the special container, Corry discovers that Allenby has left him with a feminine robot, named Alicia, to keep him company. At first, Corry detests it, rejecting Alicia as a mere machine; synthetic skin and wires inside. However, when Corry sees that Alicia is in fact capable of crying, he begins to fall in love with it.
When the ship returns, Captain Allenby brings news that Corry has been pardoned after a review of past murder cases. Corry, it seems, can return home to Earth immediately. Corry is delighted, until he learns that there is only room for 15 pounds of luggage, far too little for his Gynoid companion. He frantically tries to find some way to take Alicia with him, arguing that it is not a robot, but a woman, and insisting that Allenby simply does not know it as he does. At that point, just as the rest of the transport crew is surprised at the sight of Alicia, Allenby suddenly draws his gun and shoots the robot in the face. The robot breaks down, malfunctioning, its face a mass of wire and broken circuitry, and Corry's illusion is presumably broken. He then takes Corry back to the ship, assuring him he will only be leaving behind loneliness. "I must remember that", Corry says tonelessly. "I must remember to keep that in mind".
[edit] Closing narration
| “ | On a microscopic piece of sand that floats through space is a fragment of a man's life. Left to rust is the place he lived in and the machines he used. Without use, they will disintegrate from the wind and the sand and the years that act upon them; all of Mr. Corry's machines—including the one made in his image, kept alive by love, but now obsolete in the Twilight Zone. | ” |
[edit] Preview for next week's story
Announcer: "And now, Mr. Serling."
| “ | Next week, a distinguished actor lends us his talents...as Mr. Burgess Meredith stars in..."Time Enough at Last", the story of a man who seeks salvation in the rubble...of a ruined world. We hope you'll share this very strange experience with us. Thank you...and good night. | ” |
[edit] Other media
An audio adaptation of "The Lonely", featuring Mike Starr as Corry, was produced for radio in the mid-2000s; it was released on CD by CBS Consumer Products in 2007 as part of The Twilight Zone Radio Dramas Vol. 4.
In 2007, "The Lonely" was produced for the stage by 4 Letter Entertainment.
[edit] Production information
This was the first regular episode to enter production following the success of the pilot episode, "Where is Everybody?" in selling the series.
This was the first of several episodes (including "I Shot an Arrow Into the Air", "A Hundred Yards Over the Rim" and "The Rip Van Winkle Caper") to be filmed on location in Death Valley. Unprepared for the terrible conditions they would face, the crew suffered extreme dehydration and heat exhaustion and director of photography George Clemens even collapsed, falling from a camera crane while filming continued.
Coincidentally, Jack Warden would star in another episode of this season featuring a robot, "The Mighty Casey", also written and narrated by Rod Serling.
[edit] References
- Zicree, Marc Scott: The Twilight Zone Companion. Sillman-James Press, 1982 (second edition)
- DeVoe, Bill. (2008). Trivia from The Twilight Zone. Albany, GA: Bear Manor Media. ISBN 978-1593931360
- Grams, Martin. (2008). The Twilight Zone: Unlocking the Door to a Television Classic. Churchville, MD: OTR Publishing. ISBN 978-0970331090
